Tom Kittel - Two Cars 1987 - 6 x 9 on 8 x 10 - Fiber Silver Gelatin Print - $175

Tom Kittel - I started out in 1972 using color slide film but I felt disconnected from the process because I thought I was missing out on a very important part of making a photograph. Namely, processing the film and printing the image. In 1974, or maybe ‘75 I took a basic black and white photography class at the School of Visual Arts in NYC taught by Beverly Nadelman. I quickly fell in love with the magic of seeing an image appear on a piece of paper that was exposed to light through a negative that I processed myself. I was hooked. A few years later I had the good fortune to take another class at SVA, this one taught by the great Ruth Orkin. She hated everything I had the nerve to place in front of the class except one picture. It happened to be one perfectly exposed, perfectly processed, and perfectly printed image- a rarity for me- of two kids chasing pigeons in Central Park. Up until that point I really didn’t enjoy going to class and having Ruth ask the class to “help me out” with whatever aspect of the photograph she didn’t like- which was usually everything. But this one I nailed! After a long gaze she turned to the class and said, “This is what happens when everything works, I like it”. It took awhile for me to understand what she meant. At the time I worked in a factory that produced industrial knives for cloth cutting machines so I took the opportunity to photograph my co-workers. I also photographed my mother who was dying of cancer and my aunt who helped take care of her. In 1978 I started to photograph New York City; in the street. A thousand or so rolls of film and ten years later I stopped and started my road tripping projects. After that I went through my self portrait phase. Over all that time I tried to make everything work, and I began to understand that Ruth was talking about the experience of the heart and not the process. She wasn’t talking about the chemicals, the paper, or the film. She was talking about letting go and really seeing. It was never about photography, it was about opening your heart. Thanks Ruth, I needed that.